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Emissary
'' |image= |series= |production=40511-721 |producer(s)= |story=Michael Piller Rick Berman |script=Michael Piller |director=David Carson |imdbref=tt0108214 |guests=Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard / Locutus of Borg, Camille Saviola as Kai Opaka, Felecia M. Bell as Jennifer Sisko, Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat, Joel Swetow as Gul Jasad, Stephen Davies as Tactical Officer, Steve Rankin, Parker Whitman and William Powell-Blair as Cardassian Officers, Lily Mariye as Ops Officer, Cassie Byram as Conn Officer (as Cassandra Byram), J.G. Hertzler as Vulcan Captain (as John Noah Hertzler), April Grace as Transporter Technician Hubbell, Kevin McDermott as Alien Batter, Frank Owen Smith as Curzon, Lynnda Ferguson as Doran, Megan Butler as Lieutenant, Stephen Rowe as Chanting Monk, Thomas Hobson as Young Jake Sisko, Donald Hotton as Monk #1, Gene Armor as Bajoran Bureaucrat, Diana Cignoni as Dabo Girl, Judi M. Durand as Cardassian Computer Voice (voice) (as Judi Durand), Majel Barrett as Starfleet Computer Voice (voice) |previous_production= |next_production=Past Prologue |episode=DS9 S01E01/E02 |airdate=3 January 1993 |previous_release=Chain of Command Part 2 |next_release=Past Prologue |story_date(s)=Stardates 46379.1-46393.1. (2369) |previous_story=Chain of Command Part 2 |next_story=Past Prologue }} For the TNG episode with a similar title, please see "The Emissary". =Summary= On Stardate 43997, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise was captured by a sinister race called the Borg. The Borg altered the captain's appearance and mind and forced him to lead an attack against the Federation, during which the U.S.S. Saratoga was all but destroyed. One of the Saratoga's officers, Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko, managed to escape with his young son Jake. Unfortunately, his wife did not survive. Three years later, a reluctant Sisko and his even more reluctant son are transferred to the space station Deep Space Nine in Bajoran territory. Now a Commander, Sisko has been ordered to oversee the repair of the giant space station, which was heavily damaged during a period of Cardassian military occupation. After his arrival, Sisko begins to meet his crew. He first encounters Chief Operations Officer Miles O'Brien, who has been transferred from the Enterprise, and Kira Nerys, a Bajoran who helped lead her people's painful fight against the Cardassians. Kira agrees to act as Sisko's first officer, but has reservations about the Federation's presence on the Bajoran space station. Soon afterward, he meets Odo, a shape shifter and security officer who exhibits his chameleon-like talents while apprehending a Ferengi thief. Quark, the Ferengi owner of the local watering hole and gambling establishment, arrives to bail out the thief — his young nephew, Nog. Sisko agrees to free Nog only if Quark will remain aboard and continue to operate his recreation center for the station's residents and visitors. The Enterprise docks at Deep Space Nine, and Sisko has a tense meeting with Picard, whom he blames for the death of his wife. Picard tersely informs Sisko that his mission aboard the space station is to assure the Bajora enter the Federation. Sisko indicates that while he will do his job as long as he is there, he may resign his post. The two part on less-than-friendly terms. Sisko looks to Kira for insight into the Bajora, and she tells that his only chance for success is for the Bajora, a somewhat diverse group, to find reason to unite. She suggests that he seek out Kai Opaka, the Bajoran spiritual leader, and Sisko immediately sets out to find her. Kai Opaka reveals that Sisko's arrival has a deep spiritual purpose, but is unable to reveal exactly what it is. She entrusts Sisko with a powerful and mystical orb, telling him his destiny is to reclaim eight other orbs stolen by the Cardassians. To demonstrate the orb's power, Kai Opaka uses it to transport Sisko to the beach where he first met his wife. Back on Deep Space Nine, Sisko greets his new crew of medical and science officers, including Dr. Julian Bashir, a cocky and ambitious young doctor, and Jadzia Dax, a beautiful Trill. Sisko's relationship with Dax is complicated by the fact that, as a Trill, she lives by inhabiting different host bodies. She and Sisko were close friends while she inhabited her previous body — that of an old man. In the laboratory, Sisko shows Dax the orb and explains they must find the eight others. When Sisko leaves, Dax experiences the orb's immense power when it takes her back to an earlier time, just as it did with Sisko. Before long, the Enterprise disembarks and a Cardassian warship arrives at the station. The Cardassian leader, Gul Dukat, immediately tries to convince Sisko to relinquish the orb, but Sisko denies knowing anything about it or the other orbs. Later, Dax researches the orbs' history and informs Sisko that they may come from the nearby Denorios belt. Dax and Sisko set out for the Denorios belt in a runabout. Without warning they are propelled through a giant tear in the fabric of space — a wormhole. After a spectacular light show, the pod slips out of the wormhole and into another corner of space — 70,000 light years from Bajor. Realizing this may be the venue the orbs entered their system, Sisko and Dax re-enter the wormhole to return home and study the implications. However, they land on a remote planet where an orb captures Dax and transports her back to Deep Space Nine. Dax immediately informs the others of her journey, exciting all of them with the possibilities the discovery presents. Kira demands that they transport Deep Space Nine to the mouth of the wormhole so the Bajorans may claim and operate the wormhole and gain power over the Cardassians. But Odo, who was discovered in the Denorios belt and does not know of his origins, has mixed feelings about the wormhole and the link it may provide to his past. Left alone on the strange planet, Sisko communicates with the awesome force behind the orbs, who first perceive him as a threat. The force does not understand linear time, and presents Sisko with a barrage of images from his life, including the day he met his wife, Jennifer, and the battle where she was killed. Sisko is able to communicate with the alien images of Jake and his late wife. Soon after, Sisko and the force begin to understand each other. O'Brien begins the task of maneuvering the space station to the mouth of the wormhole, but a Cardassian ship reaches it first. However, the mouth of the wormhole collapses around the alien ship, stranding it in a remote part of the galaxy. The alien force detects the Cardassian ship's presence and informs Sisko that they are no longer alone. However, the force continues to communicate with Sisko, indicating that he is trapped at the moment in time when his wife was killed aboard the Saratoga. Realizing his pain has been holding him back, Sisko allows the force to guide him through the circumstances leading up to his wife's death and helps him to finally grieve for his loss. Aboard Deep Space Nine, Kira is contacted by Cardassian leader Gul Jasad, who accuses the station crew of destroying the lost Cardassian ship. The crew denies the accusation, but Jasad declares war, prompting Kira to launch an attack against the enemy. The battle escalates and the space station is damaged, but the wormhole suddenly reappears. Sisko's runabout is seen towing the Cardassian ship out of danger, and the fighting ceases. Later, a changed Sisko speaks with Picard about the events of the past few days. He decides to keep his post on Deep Space Nine, and Picard agrees. Later, he speaks with Kai Opaka, who informs Sisko that this is not the last time he will work with the Bajoran prophets to secure the future of the space station inhabitants. =Errors and Explanations= Plot oversights # During the flashback at the beginning, why are there civilians on board the starships attacking the Borg? There may not have been enough time to remove them all – assuming they would be willing to leave! #During his first encounter with the Tear of the Prophet, Sisko flashes back to the day he met Jennifer – the woman he would marry. He is standing on the beach, holding a tray of lemonade, when he realises the sand is burning his feet. He hops around, eventually kicking sand on his wife-to-be. They flirt for several moments, and then take off for a walk down the beach. It looks like they are walking on dry sand – dry, hot sand – which no longer seems to be burning his feet. The burning effect could be due to the concentration of the sun's rays through the lemonade glasses. # Why isn't Kira torqued about the new name for the station? Wouldn't she be upset that Starfleet named it Deep Space 9? She probably regards the Starfleet name to be an improvement on the original Cardassian one! # When did Starfleet officers become fluent in the written Cardassian language? Those assigned to DS9 would need to understand Cardassian script in order to get the station operational again. Changed Premises # Existence of survivors from the Battle of Wolf 359, despite Data reporting in The Best of Both Worlds Part 2 that there were no active subspace fields, negligible power readings and – in response to Riker's question – no life signs. It's possible that some ships managed to evacuate the few survivors after the Borg ship left, but before the Enterprise arrived. # The Saratoga having it's registry as NCC-31911, and not NCC-1937 followed by a suffix letter, in honour of the ship from Star Trek IV The Voyage Home. Perhaps the suffix letter policy only applies to Enterprise at this point, due to that ship's status as the Federation flagship. # Kira describing DS9 as a god-forsaken place, despite Bajorans worshipping beings known as the Prophets. Bajorans regard the Prophets as being akin to gods. # Problems with the conservation of matter, with regard to Odo's shape-shifting. Perhaps Odo's people can subconsciously alter the specific density of their body cells. Equipment Oddities # Locutus only using a tractor beam against the Saratoga, as opposed to the more powerful weapon used against the Melbourne moments earlier. There are three possibilities. 1) As Phil suggests, the more powerful weapon used against the Melbourne is out of power, and needs to recharge. 2). The Borg recognised the Melbourne as being the command vessel, and used the more powerful weapon against it to disrupt the effectiveness of Starfleet's attack. 3). The Borg singled it out due to Picard's subconscious resentment at Riker being offered command, thus taking the latter away from Picard's side. # The Borg energy weapon damaging decks 1 to 4 of the Saratoga, despite impacting the lower part of the saucer section. The energy from the weapon could have travelled along the power transfer system before inflicting the damage. Nit Central # ScottN on Friday, May 14, 1999 - 4:59 pm: How come Jadzia was awake during major surgery (implanting the symbiont)? Robert P. Smith on Friday, May 14, 1999 - 5:08 pm: The only other reference to that I can recall was when Riker had that "trill" parasite put in him. They kept him awake to keep an eye on his vitals but that was for different reasons. Sven of Nine on Saturday, December 15, 2001 - 3:49 pm: Perhaps it's a Trill custom, that the joining of a Symbion into its new Host has a cultural symbolism, in that by having both parties awake, the whole can appreciate its new existence - either that, or wonderful 24th Century local anaesthetic. Seniram Maybe the new recipient has to be awake, to ensure the implantation goes smoothly. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, September 03, 2000 - 12:30 am: So why didn't the Cardassians take the station with them? Have you any idea how hard it would be to tow a space station from Bajor to Cardassia? # Teral on Saturday, August 04, 2001 - 7:05 pm: Odo calls Quark a gambler and a thief in a very negative intonation. But isn't gambling legal on the station? So why would Odo use the term gambler as a bad thing? Brian Fitzgerald on Saturday, August 04, 2001 - 10:36 pm: Even though it's legal, it doesn't mean Odo thinks highly of it. You can call someone a drunk in a negative way even though it's legal. # Sisko allows the Cardassians to come to the Promenade for some leisure time. This is a very poor decision on Sisko's part. The Bajorans remaining on the station is bound to react very hostile to the Cardassians. And what about Sisko's relations with the Bajorans? As one of his first actions as station commander he invites their arch-enemies onboard for a bit of fun. He's hoping to build a lasting peace between the two races. # When the Cardassian picks up the bag that is Odo, he should have noticed that the bag had the same temperature as a humanoid body. Or is Odo able to lower his body temperature to approx. 15-20 degrees celsius without jeopardizing his health? He's a shapeshifter – anything's possible! # Cableface on Thursday, December 17, 1998 - 12:29 pm: The whole reason for Odo looking like he does is because he can't fully recreate a human face.But as the series has progressed, he's become less human looking.In this episode, he has wrinkles and doesn't look too different from the actor who plays him.But seven years later, he looks very little like a human.Granted, it look better but it just doesn't make much sense. ScottN on Thursday, December 17, 1998 - 5:53 pm: He has become more comfortable with who he is,. # Chris on Friday, February 26, 1999 - 11:11 am: About the wormhole aliens not seeming to know the future perhaps they can see it but chose not to. Perhaps linear time to them is like a book is to us. You can hold a book in your hand and have access to every page in it but you can't see the page if you don't open the book. They didn't know Sisko was coming because they hadn't read that page yet. Mike Konczewski on Wednesday, January 06, 1999 - 7:23 am: I think it's even more complicated. They didn't know Sisko was coming because they've always known that they would be surprised. For the Prophets, everything is predetermined, even their own reactions. # Christopher Q on Friday, March 05, 1999 - 3:44 pm: Some Cardis came to investigate the disappearance & apparant distruction of a fellow Card ship. They don't believe that the ship went into the wormhole because it temporary collapsed. My question is: Why aren't the Cardis surprised to find DS9 hanging way out in space instead of in Bajor's orbit? Don't they wonder why the Feds & Bajorins bothered to move the station? Natural Stupidity? =Notes= Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine Category:Pilot Episodes